The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps

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Synopsis
In the thirteenth century, Italian merchant and explorer Marco Polo traveled from Venice to the far reaches of Asia, a journey he chronicled in a narrative titled "Il Milione," later known as "The Travels of Marco Polo. " While PoloOCOs writings would go on to inspire the likes of Christopher Columbus, scholars have long debated their veracity. Some have argued that Polo never even reached China, while others believe that he came as far as the Americas. Now, thereOCOs new evidence for this historical puzzle: a very curious collection of fourteen little-known maps and related documents said to have belonged to the family of Marco Polo himself. In "The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps," historian of cartography Benjamin B. Olshin offers the first credible book-length analysis of these artifacts, charting their course from obscure origins in the private collection of Italian-American immigrant Marcian Rossi in the 1930s; to investigations of their authenticity by the Library of Congress, J. Edgar Hoover, and the FBI; to the work of the late cartographic scholar Leo Bagrow; to OlshinOCOs own efforts to track down and study the Rossi maps, all but one of which are in the possession of RossiOCOs great-grandson Jeffrey Pendergraft. Are the maps forgeries, facsimiles, or modernized copies? Did Marco PoloOCOs daughtersOCowhose names appear on several of the artifactsOCopreserve in them geographic information about Asia first recorded by their father? Or did they inherit maps created by him? Did Marco Polo entrust the maps to Admiral Ruggero Sanseverino, who has links to RossiOCOs family line? Or, if the maps have no connection to Marco Polo, who made them, when, and why? Regardless of the mapsOCO provenance, OlshinOCOs taleOCostretching from the remote reaches of the northern Pacific to early Chinese legendsOCotakes readers on a journey confounding yet fascinating, offering insights into Italian history, the age of exploration, and the wonders of cartography. "
Copyright:
2014

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
176 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780226149967
Related ISBNs:
9780226149820
Publisher:
The University of Chicago Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
The University of Chicago Press
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Technology, Earth Sciences
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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